Page 4 of Witness Protection

“Do we know anything about the mother?” Another of the team asked.

“Yes, she is now married to Robert Manchelli, the head of the Manchelli crime family. She hasn’t seen or as far as we can tell from the girl’s correspondence reached out to her since she left Fortini.”

My heart lurches in my chest at the thought of Elise being left by her mother in Fortini’s care.

“How old was she when her mother left?”

The commander looked at me curiously. It isn’t like me to ask irrelevant nontactical questions, but I want to know as much about Elise as I possibly can.

“She was 17, it was her 17thbirthday, actually. Mother left without a backward glance. She has been with Fortini since then. From what we have been able to uncover, he has basically kept her prisoner. She has no other family and had nowhere to run. He knew that eventually he would be able to use her as a bargaining chip and it looks like today. He made his move. Bates and Elise were to be married in a small private ceremony.”

“She is going to need protection and I volunteer.” I blurt out and all the heads in the room swivel towards me. I am not one to offer to babysit witnesses, but I made her a promise and I am going to stick to it.

“Archer, this is a surprising twist you hate babysitting witnesses.” The commander says raising one eyebrow.

“I made a promise to protect her and I am going to keep it.” My voice goes cold, my eyes like steel as I look around the room daring anyone to contradict me.

“Sounds like Archer is on witness duty, let’s get all the other positions assigned.”

I tune the commander out as he assigns the rest of the crew to different details, some helping me to guard Elise others to post up to make sure that Fortini doesn’t escape.

The briefing ends and I stand, eager to get back to Elise’s side.

“Volunteering for witness protection duty is there something you aren’t telling me?” Chase asks me as we leave the briefing room and head out of the command center. He has been assigned to help me in my witness protection duty.

“No, I promised to keep her safe, and that is what I am going to do. No one is going to touch her on my watch.”

Chase chuckles as he falls into step beside me, “Oh how the mighty have fallen. It is finally happening, a woman has gotten to you.”

I look over at his smiling face and frown, “What are you talking about I offered to protect a witness that isn’t so strange.”

Chase just shakes his head, “If you say so, my friend. I can’t remember the last time you volunteered for witness protection duty. You always say there is no action in it, and you can’t stand sitting around watching someone eat and sleep.”

Chase is my best friend and if I can’t be honest with him, I don’t know who I can be. “There is something about her Chase I don’t know, I just feel this need to protect her and keep her close.”

He smirks at me, “As I said oh how the mighty have fallen. It was the same way with me and Vanessa.”

I smile at the mention of Chase’s wife. He met her in another case, she was the witness that he was protecting the former wife of a mob boss. He had fallen for her and after her ex-husband was put away, they married and now have a brand-new baby girl.

“I am not saying I am in love with her Chase I have spoken a handful of words to her, I just feel like I am the one that needs to protect her and keep her safe. I told her I would, and I need to keep my word.”

We walk back into the safe house, and I see her sitting on the couch. She is wearing jeans, and a sweater with her hair pulled back in a ponytail. It is a far cry from the sexy siren outfit she was wearing earlier. It makes her look younger and more vulnerable, igniting that powerful protective instinct in me once more.

I will protect her no matter the cost.

Chapter Five- Elise

I brighten as Jason and another man I remember seeing at Bates’ mansion come strolling through the door. Just seeing Jason makes my heart thump hard.

“Miss Stuart we are ready for you.” A man in a black suit said standing outside the door of one of the rooms in the safe house.

I look back at Jason who nods and comes with me as we enter a little room set up with couches and chairs. It is meant to look cozy, but I know what it’s really used for. They want to find out what involvement I have had with Craig’s businesses and what I know. If I trust them, then I will hand over the flash drive and hopefully they will give me a new life.

I sit down on the couch and Jason sits next to me. He lays his arm across the back of the couch in a protective gesture that causes me to feel warm and giggly. I appreciate that he wants to protect me. I am not sure what it is about me that he feels so protective of, but it feels good to have someone who finally cares about me.

The man sits down a file folder in front of him.

“Miss Stuart first let me say I know that you have had a hard life. We know how your mother dragged you from one bad boyfriend to the next, finally leaving you with Mr. Fortini. We also have found no evidence of any kind of wrongdoing on your part and therefore will not be filing any charges against you in connection with Mr. Fortini’s business practices.”

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